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Designing Ways (10 links)

http://www.smartisans.com/ui_design_column.htm

Constance Petersen's writings.

Create Useful, Usable Software and Web Sites.

  
 #   Links Added/Updated  
 

Simplify & Sort for Better Searches
http://www.smartisans.com/articles/web_search.aspx
Search advice with examples.

Borders, CDNow and Barnes & Noble and others are used as examples for search tips:

  • Make search easy to find on every page
  • Anticipate questions
  • Search results need to have just the right amount of information
  • Let users re-organize the results

By Constance Petersen.

Topic: Searching (15)
Author: Petersen, Constance (10)
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May 15, 2000

   
 

Seven Steps To Easier Web Navigation
http://www.smartisans.com/articles/web_navigation.aspx
Navigation tips.

Constance Petersen's April 2000 article has these suggestions:

  • Use standard icons, conventions
  • Avoid irrelevant links
  • Reveal structure
  • Leave breadcrumbs
  • Don't bury information
  • Don't be mysterious
  • Provide help

Topic: Navigation (14)
Author: Petersen, Constance (10)
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April 11, 2000

   
 

Web Ugly
http://www.smartisans.com/web_ugly.htm

Author: Petersen, Constance (10)
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February 22, 2000

   
 

No Weak Links
http://www.smartisans.com/no_weak_links.htm
23 ways to reduce usability with links.

Some of the ways to make weak links:

  • Broken
  • Embedded
  • Ambiguous
  • Orphaned (although I would say the page is orphaned, not the link)
  • Indistinguishable
  • Unfocused
  • Miscolored

I would probably add another one, where you link to a page deep inside a site but it does not provide enough context for users to figure out where they are. This happens a lot when the page you want to link to is buried within frames and you are forced to link to the un-framed page. You can provide some context at your end (the link), but if the destination page does not provide its own "where am I", then it makes your site look bad, too.

Constance Petersen's UI Design column "Designing Ways".

Topic: Linking (10)
Author: Petersen, Constance (10)
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November 26, 1999

   
 

Know Thy Users
http://www.smartisans.com/know_thy_users.htm

Author: Petersen, Constance (10)
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November 22, 1999

   
 

Usability Testing
http://www.smartisans.com/usability_testing.htm
Intro to user testing, originally from Borland's Developer News.

Topic: User Testing (17)
Author: Petersen, Constance (10)
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November 20, 1999

   
 

Reeling in the Sales
http://www.smartisans.com/reeling_in_the_sales.htm

Author: Petersen, Constance (10)
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October 12, 1999

   
 

Why animate?
http://www.smartisans.com/why_animate.htm
Animated content helps, spinning logos hurt.

Topic: Animation (3)
Author: Petersen, Constance (10)
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September 28, 1999

   
 

Web Design Commandments
http://www.smartisans.com/webcmdmts.htm

Author: Petersen, Constance (10)
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August 29, 1999

   
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Focus on Usability
http://www.smartisans.com/focusab1.htm

Author: Petersen, Constance (10)
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December 12, 1996

   
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